Author: Aram Hur | Journal of Democracy

Aram Hur is assistant professor of political science and the Kim Koo Chair in Korean Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She is the author of Narratives of Civic Duty: How National Stories Shape Democracy in Asia (2022).

April 2025, Volume 36, Issue 2

The Perils of South Korean Democracy

Joan E. Cho
Aram Hur

When South Korea’s president declared martial law last December, he shocked the country and sparked a political crisis that laid bare deep-seated divisions. Can Korean democracy overcome the nationalist polarization that has always defined it?